Michelin at the 24 Heures du Mans 2010: Faster, Farther, Cleaner

Michelin is in the running this year for its 13th consecutive win at the 24 Heures du Mans. To meet this challenge, Michelin engineers, chemists, developers and technicians have prepared a new lineup of even more durable tires. Because they are longer lasting, fewer tires will need to be manufactured and transported to the racetrack, thereby helping to protect the environment.

Working with its partners, Michelin has focused on increasing tire life without sacrificing performance in other areas. This year, the tire maker’s goal at the 24 Heures du Mans is to quadruple the length of each stint for prototypes and to double them for GT cars.

The new tire development process began nearly one year ago. To increase longevity, Michelin provided its partners in the LMP1 category with a very broad selection of slick tires so that each team could choose its own tire line-up depending on car technical features and individual driving styles.

The selections were made following a large number of trial sessions and then validated by many of the teams at the 1000 km Spa held at the Spa-Francorchamps track in early May. So for the first time ever, Audi, Peugeot, Aston Martin and Michelin’s other LMP1 partners will not be using the same slicks at the 24 Heures du Mans.

Equipping 34 of the 55 cars invited to take part in the 78th running of the 24 Heures du Mans, Michelin is aiming for a 19th victory – its 13th in a row since 1998 – and will also be attempting to win in all four categories for the third consecutive year.

Thanks to its ever more durable tires, Michelin is helping to reduce the environmental impact of motor sports. Committed to environmental protection for nearly 20 years, the tire maker – through the MICHELIN GREEN X Challenge – also rewards participating cars that demonstrate superior energy efficiency.